DANKY, James P. 1947-

PERSONAL: Born October 3, 1947, in Los Angeles, CA; son of Philip H. (a probation officer) and Elizabeth James (an elementary school principal) Danky; married Pamela Johnson (divorced); married Christine Schelshorn (an editor), August 12, 1980; children: Matthew. Education: Ripon College, A.B., 1970; University of Wisconsin-Madison, M.A.(library science), 1973. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, raising chickens.

ADDRESSES: Office—State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 State St., Madison, WI 53706. E-mail—jpdanky@wgs.wisc.edu.

CAREER: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, newspapers and periodicals librarian, 1973—; University of Wisconsin-Madison, lecturer, 1990—, codirector of Center for the History of Print Culture in Modern America, 1992-2002, director, 2002—. Cooksville Community Center, board of directors and treasurer, 1979-90.

MEMBER: American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians, American Library Association, American Journalism Historians Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Serials Librarian of the Year, Bowker/American Library Association, 1987; Media Hero, Alternative Media Association, 1993; Alumnus of the Year, University of Wisconsin School of Library and Information Sciences, 1993; Fulbright scholar, British Library, 1991.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Undergrounds: A Union List of Alternative Periodicals in Libraries of the United States and Canada, State Historical Society of Wisconsin (Madison, WI), 1974.

(Editor, with Elliott Shore) Alternative Materials in Libraries, Scarecrow Press (Metuchen, NJ), 1982.

(Editor) Native American Periodicals and Newspapers, 1828-1982, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1984.

(Editor, with Sanford Berman) Alternative Library Literature: A Biennial Anthology, McFarland & Co. (Jefferson, NC), 1984-2001.

(Editor) Genealogical Research: An Introduction to the Resources of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, State Historical Society of Wisconsin (Madison, WI), 1986.

(Editor) Labor Union Periodicals, University Publications of America (Bethesda, MD), 1990-99.

(Editor, with Elliott Shore and Ken Fones-Wolf) The German-American Radical Press: The Shaping of a Left Political Culture, 1850-1940, University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 1992.

(Editor) African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 1998.

(Editor, with Wayne A. Wiegand) Print Culture in A Diverse America, University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 1998.

Women in Print: Reading, Writing, Publishing in American from the Nineteenth Century to the Present, University of Wisconsin Press (Madision, WI), 2003.

Also contributor to The History of the Book in America, Volume 4, for Cambridge University Press; editor of collections on alternative and minority publications held by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Research on newspapers and periodicals of the African Diaspora in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

SIDELIGHTS: In the strictest definition, James P. Danky is not writer, but the terms editor and compiler do not fully characterize his contributions to literature. Through extensive research, library education, and publishing, Danky has brought to light a body of writing and culture that had previously gone unnoticed. As a librarian at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and the director of the Center of Print Culture in Modern America at the University of Wisconsin-Madison—where he is also a faculty member in three departments—Danky is committed to increasing public awareness of media sources that are easily overlooked in mainstream library catalogs.

The ten volumes of "Alternative Library Literature" comprise readings from smaller journals and other sources that address topics including human rights, women and children, censorship, multiculturalism and the Third World. Reviewing the 1998-1999 edition of Alternative Library Literature for the Australian Library Journal, Bob Pymm wrote of Danky and coeditor Sanford Berman, "Their passion has not abated over the years, and their belief in libraries having the potential to make a difference is as strong as ever. Once again this eclectic, irritating, moving, emotional, inconsistent, and enthusing collection sets out to bring to a wider audience [texts] that otherwise would be seen by very few." Danky has also focused his efforts on specific groups, including Native Americans, African Americans, German Americans, and Asian Americans. In a review for Publishing Research Quarterly, Albert Henderson called Danky's African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography "an invaluable resource."

In 1999 Danky was honored as the Wisconsin Librarian of the Year for his efforts to make materials on Native Americans, blacks, and women more accessible to a general audience.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Libraries, April, 1983, Thomas Nisonger, review of Alternative Materials in Libraries, p. 202; January, 2000, "James Danky," p. 94; May, 2001, Cathleen Bourdon, "Airing Alternative Viewpoints," p. 88.

Australian Library Journal, November, 2001, Bob Pymm, review of Alternative Library Literature, 1998-1999, pp. 394-395.

Capital Times (Madison, WI), August 9, 1999, "Librarians Honor Danky," p. 1C.

Library Journal, February 1, 1997, Wilda Williams, review of Alternative Library Literature, 1994-1995, pp. 114-115; November 15, 1999, Elizabeth Connor, review of African-American Newspapers and Periodicals, p. 58; May 1, 2001, Wilda Williams, review of Alternative Library Literature, 1998-1999, p. 134.

Publishing Research Quarterly, summer, 2000, Albert Henderson, review of African-American Newspapers and Periodicals, p. 94.

Wisconsin State Journal, October 9, 1999, "Historical Society Librarian Honored," p. 2B.

ONLINE

University of Illinois Press Web site,http://www.press.uillinois.edu/ (June 12, 2002).

University of Wisconsin Library Web site,http://www.library.wisc.edu/ (June 12, 2002), "James P. Danky."

University of Wisconsin SLIS Alumni Association Web site,http://www.slis.wisc.edu/ (June 12, 2002).